The False Avatar
by JBGilroy
Summary: The 100 year war is over but something has made the spirits angry. Aang is having real problems handling the spirits as he's still having problems as a result of Azula hitting him with lightning. But help from a mysterious boy with an unusual form of bending has appeared. (rated t to be on the safe side)(AU Danny's story changed to fit with Aang's)
1. Chapter 1

**Here it is! The winner of the poll!**

 **I'd like to give a quick thanks to everyone who participated in the poll. So thanks.**

 **This story is based in the world of The Last Airbender. So some things about Danny, Sam and Tucker have been altered. Mostly it's just their back story and a few tweaks to their skill set. Fair warning but I have tried to keep the changes to the minimum.**

 **The story is based the autumn after the events of the show. So about a month after Aang defeated Ozai.**

 **References from The Legend of Korra.**

 **I don't own Danny Phantom or The Last Airbender.**

 **So, with that all said, on this the story…**

It was a beautiful autumn afternoon. Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, Appa and Momo were taking a break by a river. Things had been hectic for the last month since the war ended. Fire Lord Zuko had returned to the Fire nation and was in the process of releasing prisoners of war and writing up new laws and legislation to help promote peace. However some fire bending soldiers had deserted the army, they believed that Zuko didn't deserve the throne as they thought that he had stolen the throne from Azula. There had been a number of assassination attempts already. But that wasn't the only thing the soldiers believed, they thought that the war was still going and often attacked unprotected villages in the Earth Kingdom.

But Aang had his own problems. The spirits were causing trouble all across the Earth kingdom, Fire nation and the Southern Water tribes. So, Aang decided to travel the world again to try and rectify that. However since being hit by lightning by Azula in Ba Sing Se, he couldn't enter the spirit world which made it difficult to get advice from Roku, unless Roku came to him in dreams or visions which he couldn't do unless it was a significant date or place for him. He could use the Avatar state if he needed it. But he couldn't enter the state of mind and being to be able to enter the spirit world. He'd tried. He once spent the entire day meditating to get in and failed.

He was getting worried. He was meant to be the bridge between the spirit world and the living, solid one. If he couldn't enter the spirit world, how could he be the avatar? Katara water-bended some water into her water bag and then filled their canteens. They were making their way to the Southern Water tribes first as Katara and Sokka wanted to visit home. Sokka was busy polishing his boomerang, missing Suki since she had returned to Kyoshi Island with her warriors to check on the village and train Ty Lee. Toph, well Toph was being her usual lazy self basking in the mild sun, chewing a piece of grass.

Aang sighed and made sure that all their supplies were still secure on Appa's saddle.

"Aang, stop worrying. I'm sure you'll figure out this problem with the spirits," Sokka called as he returned the boomerang to its holder over his shoulder. Aang frowned at him.

"Sokka, I don't know why I can't enter the spirit world. My chakras are all clear. I know they are since I can enter the Avatar state. How can I figure this problem out?" Aang grumbled. Sokka shrugged.

"You figured out the Avatar state," Sokka pointed out. Aang scowled at him.

"Only because I had help. Without access to the spirit world, I can't get in contact with Roku. Without Roku, I don't know how to fix this," Aang reminded him.

"Calm down Twinkle Toes, it's not like you need to go into the spirit world. The problem is in this world. You just need to show those spirits whose boss and force them to go back," Toph interjected. Aang shook his head and gently lowered himself to the ground using his air-bending.

"You don't understand Toph. That doesn't work with spirits. Spirits can't be beaten into submission, not that I'd want to anyway. You need to talk with them and find out what's wrong. Only then can you fix the problem," Aang informed her. Toph spat out the grass. She climbed to her feet and put her hands on her hips.

"Well, if you have all the answers, then what's the problem," Toph retorted. Aang sighed.

"Because sometimes the only way to understand the problem is by asking other spirits. That's how I found out the spirits in charge of the moon and water-bending were a pair of fish in the Northern Water tribe's shrine," Aang explained.

Toph straightened and cocked her head to the side.

"Heads up, we've got company. Feels like one person," Toph warned and moments later a young girl burst into their clearing. She glanced around and then spotted Aang. Her eyes widened and she grinned and ran over to him. She fell to her knees.

"Please Avatar, my village needs your help. A spirit attacks our homes day in and day out. Stopping anyone who tries to leave. I was only able to escape due to a distraction. Please Avatar!" the girl begged. Aang swallowed his unease and crouched down in front of her.

"Of course I'll help you. Where's your village?" Aang asked in a soft voice. The girl smiled with relief.

"Thank you Avatar. It's only an hour's walk upstream. I'll show you the way," the girl offered, grateful tears in her eyes.

Katara sealed the water bags and turned to Aang and the girl.

"We can all fly on Appa. I'm Katara, what's your name?" Katara announced kindly. The girl bowed her head to Katara.

"Thank you, I'm Cai," the girl replied. Katara smiled encouragingly.

"Well, that's Sokka my brother and Toph Beifong. You know who Aang is," Katara informed her. Cai nodded gratefully. Aang twisted his body and spun through the air onto Appa's head.

"Climb on. We should get to your village as fast as possible," Aang suggested. Cai nodded and clambered up Appa's shaggy fur and sat down in the saddle. Sokka and Katara helped Toph up since she was blind when she wasn't on the ground before following her.

"Momo! Momo, come on boy. We're leaving now!" Aang shouted and the flying lemur bat glided down from a nearby fruit tree on to his shoulder.

"Alright then, Cai, hold on tight. Yip yip!" Aang called.

Cai yelped in surprise as Appa rose up into the air and floated up above the river and began to fly upstream. Within minutes they spotted a village. They didn't need to check with Cai if it was her village. The massive monster rampaging through the streets was all they needed to know it was the right place.

"Appa, down there boy!" Aang yelled to the flying bison. Appa grumbled in response and began to descend.

"Katara! Take the reins," Aang ordered as he grabbed his glider. Katara scrambled to take the reins.

"Be careful Aang!" she called after him as he leapt off Appa and opened his glider.

He quickly descended and landed gently on the ground a few feet away from the furious spirit and with a twirl of his glider returned it to a staff. He cautiously walked up to the spirit.

"Hey! I'm the avatar. I want to help you. So why don't we talk?" Aang shouted to the spirit. It stopped and turned to him. Aang flinched away from the murderous glare the spirit shot at him.

"You abandoned us spirits!" it accused angrily. Aang blinked in shock.

"No, I didn't. I… it wasn't my fault. I want to help. I'm here now and that's what counts right?" Aang replied hastily. He'd been told that by a number of spirits. Usually the troublemaking ones at that.

The spirit roared and shook its head. Aang swallowed his nervousness and drank in the spirit's appearance, trying to figure out what was wrong. It was completely black, like a shadow. Its eyes glowed red with rage. It was bigger than a house and seemed to walk on two legs, except it floated. Its black arms ended in dagger-like clawed hands. Aang bit his lip and took a breath, ready to try reasoning again.

"Look, I want to help, but I can't help you if you won't tell me what's wrong. So how about it?" Aang attempted. The spirit hissed angrily and whipped its clawed hand at him, swatting him unexpectedly down the street, straight for a building.

"Aang!" Katara screamed fearfully, too far away to help and Toph couldn't see him since he was airborne. Appa had landed down the next street, allowing Aang the room to deal with the spirit. Aang closed his eyes and prepared to air-bend an air cushion around himself before he hit the building but suddenly a cloud of soft dirt erupted in the air and encased him, stopping his trajectory. It held him and gently lowered him to the ground. Aang blinked in surprise and turned to Toph but she wasn't even holding her hands out. It hadn't been her who had earth-bended.

Aang turned his head and saw a girl with short black hair panting slightly watching him. Her hands were straightened out in front of her. She had unusual light purple eyes and wore dark brown and green male clothes and large boots.

"You alright? I didn't hurt you?" she asked. Aang shook his head and got to his feet and dusted off his clothes quickly.

"No, thanks. You really helped me out. But you should probably get to safety. There's a spirit down the road," Aang began. The girl shook her head.

"Being taken care of," she replied. Aang frowned and turned to see a boy wearing light brown trousers and a green tunic walking purposefully towards the outraged spirit. Aang's eyes widened.

"Hey! Don't go near that spirit, it's dangerous!" Aang shouted after the boy. He stopped and turned to him. Aang watched in stunned silence as the black haired, blue eyed teen smiled at him.

"I know, it's fine. I'll take it from here," the boy called back.

 **So any guesses who these strangers are?**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

Aang stared at the boy as he continued to walk up to the furious shadowy spirit. Aang made to run after the boy but suddenly felt his feet become encased in earth. He turned to the girl and scowled at her. He earth-bended the earth away.

"What are you doing? I'm trying to stop that guy from getting himself killed," Aang demanded. The girl shook her head.

"Funny, that's what I'm doing too. Trust me Danny can take care of this. That spirit seems really angry at you for some reason. Probably best you keep your distance," the girl reasoned. Aang blinked in surprise. He then frowned at her.

"I'm the avatar. This is my job!" Aang informed her. The girl shrugged and turned to the boy, Danny.

Danny stopped in front of the spirit.

"Hey! Can we talk?" Danny shouted clearly. The spirit turned to Danny and snarled at him.

"Why should I speak with you?" it growled. Danny shrugged.

"Maybe so I can help you. Destroying this village isn't getting you what you want, otherwise you'd be happier. So what do you want?" Danny replied calmly. The spirit crouched down to his level and then hissed in surprise at him.

"Ah, it's you," it realised. Danny nodded.

"Yep, it's me. So you want to talk?" Danny suggested. The spirit shook its head and flicked its sharp fingers at him.

Danny moved faster than anyone could blink. His wrist flicked up and the spirit's claw travelled _through_ him. The spirit grumbled angrily and it tried again and again and each time Danny flicked his wrist and the attacks passed through him. Danny folded his arms and raised an eyebrow once the attacks stopped.

"Done? Can we talk now?" Danny asked. The spirit hissed in annoyance but nodded. Danny smiled.

"Great. So what's the problem?" Danny continued. The spirit sighed loudly.

"My fire is going out," it answered. Danny nodded encouragingly.

"It's fuelled by feelings like anger and passion. Since the war ended, it has grown weaker. If it goes out, I cease to exist," the spirit explained. Danny frowned in thought.

"So, you're attacking this village to get them angry at you?" Danny inquired. The spirit nodded.

"The thing is though, this village isn't angry at you. They're scared. I'm guessing fear doesn't fuel your fire," Danny remarked. The spirit nodded again.

"I don't understand why you're only attacking this village though. You could travel and attack many villages. Why this village?" Danny asked.

"Because my shrine is located in the forest nearby," the spirit answered. Danny gasped in realisation and understanding.

"Tell you what. Leave this with me and I'll do what I can to help you out. But I can't help you if you're constantly attacking these people," Danny suggested.

"And what guarantee do I have that you'll be able to fix my problem and energise my flame," the spirit demanded. Danny bit his lip and shrugged.

"I guess you don't but I give you my word that I will do my best to find a solution," Danny replied. The spirit hissed in disagreement.

"Not good enough. I'll give you three sunsets… then I will return. If you haven't found a solution by then, then I will destroy this village. That will bring strong feelings which will help my fire," the spirit decided. Before Danny could negotiate, the spirit faded away, returning to the spirit world.

Danny sighed and walked back up the road, past Aang and the others and pushed open a door into a shop where a number of villagers were hiding.

"I've bought you two full days to get your stuff and leave. After then, if I can't appease the spirit, it's coming back and it will destroy the village. I'd advise you to begin evacuating to be on the safe side," Danny recommended. Danny then turned to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?" an elderly man demanded. Danny glanced back at him.

"I have a camp just outside the village. I'll be there trying to come up with a plan. If you have any information for me, go there," Danny answered and left the shop and nodded to the earth-bender girl before they both walked out of the village together.

Aang watched the two teens walk around a corner and out of sight. He blinked and shook his head.

"Aang! Are you alright?" Katara yelled as she ran over to him. Aang nodded.

"Ye-yeah. I'm fine, thanks to that girl. Did you guys see that?" Aang replied.

"I heard it," Toph answered.

"I saw it and it was terrible. That kid just stole your job!" Sokka exclaimed. Aang stared at him.

"What are you talking about Sokka?" Aang retorted, completely confused.

"Aang, everyone knows that it's the avatar's job to maintain peace between the spirits and the human world," Katara began.

"Exactly and that kid just did that. Better than you!" Sokka added incredulously. Katara scowled at her brother.

"Not better, just…um," Katara started but didn't know what to say. Aang smiled gratefully at her.

"I know, I messed up before he came. Come on. I want to talk to him," Aang replied.

"By talk, I assume you mean punish for taking your job," Toph commented as they began to walk the way the two teens went. Aang frowned at her.

"No, I mean talk to him. I am the avatar and like you all keep reminding me, this is my job. He may have spoken to the spirit but that doesn't mean he can do what the spirit wants," Aang retorted.

"That's the spirit Aang. Don't give up your role to some random kid," Sokka exclaimed and pulled Aang into a one armed hug around his neck. Aang escaped Sokka's grip.

"Would you guys stop it? I have nothing to worry about. No one can replace the avatar. Didn't we just have a war proving that?" Aang pointed out. Toph glanced at him.

"Twinkle Toes, you okay? You don't sound so good," Toph inquired. Aang nodded. Then realised that Toph asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine Toph," Aang answered for the blind girl's benefit. Toph frowned.

"I know you're lying," Toph whispered so only Aang could hear her.

Aang really hated it when Toph did that. If he wanted to lie that he felt fine and that he wasn't worried or concerned about being replaced then he should be able to do that. But no! Because Toph was so good at earth-bending she could feel the changed in his heart beat, hear the change in his breath and detect his lie. At least she didn't shout it out this time. Aang let out a long breath, releasing his pent up stress.

Katara glanced worriedly at him and took his hand in hers. Aang glanced at her and smiled gratefully to his girlfriend. It still amazed him that Katara was his girlfriend.

"Don't worry Aang, you're right. No one can replace the avatar. Maybe he's a little like Guru Pathik and is just extra connected to the spirit world," Katara suggested. Aang relaxed. Katara was probably right. That Danny guy was just like Guru Pathik. He had nothing to worry about.

"Thanks Katara," Aang whispered and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as they walked. Katara blinked in surprise at him before smiling kindly.

"You're welcome Aang," she replied.

 **Let me know what you guys think of the story so far.**

 **Not much to say really except…**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Vegetables again?!" A boy exclaimed with short black hair and green eyes wearing dark green clothes and strange goggles on his eyes. The earth-bender girl raised an eyebrow.

"Problem with that Tucker?" she inquired. The boy huffed.

"Yes! I hate vegetables. Don't we have any meat leftover?" Tucker asked. The girl shook her head.

"You want meat, you go find some. You know I don't carry dead animals on my back," the girl suggested stiffly. Tucker pouted.

"Oh come on Sam, just because you're a vegetarian doesn't mean that me and Danny have to be," Tucker pointed out. The girl, Sam glared at him.

"Fine, you can buy, carry and cook all the food from now on," she grumbled and folded her arms, taking a definite step away from the vegetables she had been preparing. Tucker paled.

"Let's not go crazy. You know I can't cook!" Tucker replied. Sam smirked smugly and returned to the vegetables.

"Then stop complaining and get the fire going and collect firewood," Sam ordered.

Tucker groaned and bent over the pile of sticks and dug out the flint from his pack.

"Why do I always have to get the firewood?" Tucker grumbled. Sam glared at him before grabbing the pot and dumping the vegetables into it. She uncorked her canteen and poured in the water.

"Because I do all the cooking and the last time Danny went, he got attacked," Sam answered. Tucker rolled his eyes and glanced at Danny meditating a few feet away.

"Reckon he'll finish communing with the spirits or whatever he's doing soon. He's always been better at lighting the fire," Tucker inquired. Sam shrugged.

"How should I know?" she retorted and put away the unprepared vegetables into her pack. Tucker yelped as he accidently hit his knuckle instead of the flint. Sam rolled her eyes. She dusted off her hands and got back to her feet and trudged over to him.

"You're so useless," she muttered. Tucker frowned at her.

"Hey not all of us are benders!" Tucker replied defensively. She snatched the flint from him and struck the stones together and a few sparks erupted onto the sticks. Sam handed the flint back to him and gave him a smug smile. Tucker scowled at her and put away the flint.

"Show off," he mumbled as Sam returned to her pot. Tucker then built up the fire and smiled proudly as it began to grow.

Sam picked up the pot of water and vegetables and plopped it down beside the fire. Tucker scowled distastefully at the pot and returned to his fire. Sam shook her head at her friend and glanced at Danny. She bit her lip.

"I wonder if we should try and bring him out of it. He's been like that for a while now," Sam mentioned. Tucker shrugged.

"You can try but you know that when he's like that it's impossible to snap him out of it unless he's ready to come out of it," Tucker replied and poked the fire with a spare stick. Sam nodded.

However when they heard a group of voices coming towards them, both of them leapt to their feet. They stood protectively near Danny and Sam stood firm, ready to earth-bend and Tucker grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows.

"Can we go back yet? We've been looking for that guy for ages," a male voice complained.

"No Sokka. I need to speak with him," another boy retorted firmly.

"But I'm hungry," the first voice moaned.

"Sokka, I think this is a little more important than your stomach," a girl sighed in an irritated tone.

"Hey, when I'm hungry, I gotta eat. It's that simple," Sokka replied.

"Guys, I can feel three people up ahead and I can smell a fire," a second girl informed the group.

Sam and Tucker glanced at each other and in unison over their shoulders at Danny. Sam bit her lip and focused on her breath. Tucker notched an arrow in his bow and aimed it at the trees towards the voices. They held their breath as the underbrush parted and the avatar and his friends stumbled into their campsite. Tucker accidently loosed an arrow. The avatar's eyes widened and a strong gust of wind blew the arrow off course.

"Sorry! Panicked," Tucker exclaimed. The older boy and girl scowled at him and marched forward.

"Firing an arrow at us was an accident?" the girl growled.

"For Tucker, yes. He's done stupider things," Sam retorted.

"Or maybe it wasn't an accident. I knew it! You're trying to take Aang's job!" the boy accused. Sam and Tucker blinked in surprise.

"Where did you get that from?!" Sam demanded. The avatar rushed forward.

"Guys, let's not argue. I believe that it was an accident," he interjected. The blind girl walked over to them.

"Yeah, they haven't lied to us once," she informed them. Sam and Tucker frowned at her.

"How?" Tucker began. The girl smiled at him.

"I'm a master earth-bender. I use my earth-bending to see. It also means that I can feel, by feeling your heartbeat, if you lie. Lying causes changes in the heartbeat and breathing," the girl explained.

"You're a master? But you're so young," Sam exclaimed. The girl smiled.

"I'm a prodigy. I also invented metal-bending," the girl replied. Sam's eyebrows raised in shock.

"But it's not possible to bend metal," she whispered.

The girl laughed and took off a bracelet on her arm.

"This is metal, right?" the girl announced and Sam nodded. The girl smirked and hovered a hand over it and with a twitch of her fingers, the metal bracelet morphed into a sphere of metal and then returned to its previous form. Sam gasped.

"Can you teach me?" she inquired. The girl frowned.

"Teach you?" the girl repeated. Sam nodded.

"I'm an earth-bender too. I'm not a master but I consider myself pretty good. Please," Sam replied.

The avatar cleared his throat.

"Sorry, but before you and Toph start bonding, can I talk with him?" the avatar interrupted before the girl, Toph could answer, nodding to Danny. Sam and Tucker shared a look before shrugging.

"I'm sure Danny won't mind talking with you avatar, except he's in the spirit world right now. You're welcome to try and get him out of it but when he's like this, you might as well be talking to a rock or something," Tucker answered. The avatar frowned.

"Well, why don't we wait here? I'm Katara, this is Sokka, my brother. That's Toph Beifong and this is Aang," the older girl introduced everyone, gesturing to each of her friends in turn.

"I'm Sam, and that's Tucker. He's Danny," Sam returned, pointed to Tucker and Danny in turn.

 **Introductions done, more or less.**

 **Don't worry answers are on the way and things will start to make more sense.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Don't forget to check out my website regularly, I update it regularly, adding new things and posting news and sneak peaks.**

 **jbgilroy.**

 **weebly.**

 **com**

 **There will be a poll for the next fanfic I post on there too either today or tomorrow.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Thank you so much for that meat Katara!" Tucker exclaimed, patting his stomach contentedly. Sam rolled her eyes.

"This is really good Sam," Aang interjected, motioning to his bowl of vegetables Sam had prepared for the group. Katara had offered to cook for the meat eaters in the group and helped Sam with cooking the meal. Sam smiled.

"I'm glad you like it avatar," Sam replied. Aang smiled at her.

"Sam, call me Aang. We're all friends here," Aang told her kindly. Sam nodded.

"How long is he usually like that?" Katara asked, nodding to Danny, who was still meditating. Sam and Tucker shrugged.

"Sometimes a few minutes, sometimes hours. It changes," Tucker answered.

"Maybe we should try and bring him out of it," Sokka suggested.

"If Danny's really in the spirit world Sokka, there's nothing we can do to wake him up. There's no point in even trying," Aang explained. Sam and Tucker nodded.

"Over the years, me and Sam have tried a lot of things but nothing ever works," Tucker added.

"How did Danny even know about that spirit? Cai said she was the only person to escape to get help," Toph inquired. Sam and Tucker glanced at each other.

"You guys probably won't believe us but Danny sensed the disturbance in the village and brought us here. We were setting up camp here when that spirit arrived," Sam explained.

"When you say sensed… what do you mean?" Katara asked. Sam bit her lip and shook her head.

"It's hard to explain. Danny just can sense spirits, especially when they're nearby," Sam replied. Aang scowled, he couldn't do that.

Danny heaved a big sigh and slowly opened his eyes. Initially they were green but they faded to his previous blue. Sam and Tucker turned to him.

"Hey Danny, this is-" Sam began. Danny stood up and stretched.

"Avatar Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph. Nice to meet you all," Danny interrupted. Everyone blinked in surprise.

"How did you know that?" Sokka asked. Danny shrugged and sat down closer to the fire and accepted the bowl of food Sam handed him with a grateful smile.

"I've been told a lot about you guys from talking to spirits," Danny answered as he began to eat.

Everyone glanced at each other, except Sam and Tucker.

"Sorry I was meditating when you came by the way. I was in the spirit world trying to figure out what to do with our angry spirit," Danny apologised and swallowed another few mouthfuls of food. Aang shook his head and plastered on a smile.

"It's fine. Did you find anything?" Aang lied, glancing at Toph but she didn't pull him up on it. Danny shook his head.

"I was mainly astral projecting. By the way, your flying bison is being cared for by the villagers," Danny answered. Aang's eyes widened.

"I have a feeling that I'll have to enter the spirit world properly to get some answers. What about you? Any ideas? The spirit said that its fire was going out because of a lack of passion and anger around these parts," Danny continued. Aang shook his head. Danny shrugged.

"Was worth a try," he muttered and resumed eating.

"So, er… why are you dealing with these spirits? I mean I'm glad that you're helping out but that's not exactly your job," Aang ventured once Danny had finished.

"Exactly, that's the avatar's job and you're stealing it," Sokka interjected.

"Sokka!" Katara groaned. Danny shook his head.

"I know that it's the avatar's job and relax, I'm not trying to replace Aang. I'm just trying to help since Aang is probably very busy dealing with the after-effects of the hundred year war that just ended," Danny replied.

"But why are you helping? It's dangerous dealing with spirits. I know of one spirit that can steal your face if you're not careful," Aang prompted. Danny nodded.

"Yeah, Koh isn't the easiest spirit to deal with, I'll give you that. And since you guys upset Wan Shi Tong neither is he. But I do what I do because the spirits asked me to," Danny answered.

Aang scowled.

"How did you know about Wan Shi Tong?" he inquired. Danny shrugged.

"I had a run in with him a few months ago. He nearly attacked me before I could talk him out of it. Now he'll only attack someone if they enter and then try and leave his library in the spirit world," Danny recalled.

"When you say the spirits asked you? What do you mean?" Katara prompted. Danny smiled sadly.

"It's a long story. One that isn't going to be easy to hear for Aang I'm afraid," Danny informed them.

"Why?" Toph asked.

"Because the spirits blame his absence for the chaos that's present in the world, in both worlds," Danny replied softly. Aang stared at him.

"They do. Why?" Aang whispered. Danny sighed.

"A hundred years ago, when you disappeared and the war began, the spirits just thought that the war would blow over. No one thought that it would last a hundred years. Humans have wars, the spirits knew that. They also knew that the avatar was still alive somewhere but since Raava was trapped with you and unable to communicate with the other spirits-" Danny began.

"Raava?" Aang interrupted confused. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you know how the first avatar came to be?" Danny asked. Aang shook his head.

"Oh, well, the first avatar, can't remember his name right now, but he was a thief. Back then, the spirit world and this world were much closer together. So close that they couldn't be separated. Lion turtles became the guardians of human settlement. They granted humans bending to protect themselves out in the spirit wilds to hunt and gather food. The first avatar tricked a Lion turtle to grant him fire-bending and he returned to his home without returning the power, breaking the rules. He was banished after he led a riot. He was allowed to keep his bending to protect himself. While in the spirit wilds he came across Raava and Vaatu fighting. He broke up the fight and Vaatu, spirit of darkness and chaos, escaped. Raava, spirit of light and peace, was furious with the first avatar and as an apology he offered to help Raava to find and defeat Vaatu. And so the first avatar journeyed to the other Lion turtles and mastered the other bending styles, air, earth and water. During the battle with Vaatu, Raava became too weak to defeat him and the first avatar offered to support the spirit and together they fought and defeated Vaatu. However Raava became permanently bonded with the avatar and when he died, Raava found a new avatar to replace him and the avatar cycle came into being," Danny explained.

"How do you know that and Aang doesn't?" Katara inquired with a frown. Danny shrugged.

"You ask enough spirits about the avatar and they start explaining things," Danny replied.

"You asked about me?" Aang asked. Danny nodded.

"At first it was out of curiosity but after that it was to keep an eye on how you were doing. I'll explain that better later. You won't understand unless I explain why I do what I do," Danny answered. Aang bit his lip but nodded slowly, giving permission to continue.

"Right, so like I was saying, none of the spirits could communicate with Raava and so didn't know where the avatar was. At first, the spirits didn't worry about it. They believed that the avatar would return before things were thrown out of balance and stop the war before it affected the spirit world. As we know, the avatar didn't return. Fire-benders destroyed the Air Nomads and damaged shrines in the Earth Kingdom, angering spirits. I believe you encountered Hei Bai due to that. Anyway, the spirits grew angry and without the avatar around to stop it, chaos seeped into the spirit world from the war in this world. They decided to try and fix that. They decided to create a second avatar to function until the original and Raava returned," Danny continued.

"Aha! So you admit to trying to take over Aang's job!" Sokka accused. Danny raised his eyebrows and gave Sokka a bored look.

"Sokka, I have never tried to replace Aang. I never thought I was the avatar and I never tried to be," Danny retorted.

"Ignore him, keep going Danny," Katara prompted, shooting a glare at her brother.

"Okay, so the spirits decided to make a replacement. But then came the issue of choosing what spirit would merge with the new avatar and how would they choose the new avatar? They considered using Vaatu since it was his counterpart that created the original but that was quickly discounted. The thing was no spirit wanted to be trapped in a human body. So they gave up on the idea. At least that was until a travelling spirit in this world got their opportunity. There was a massive storm in the Earth kingdom. A man, called Vlad, was hiking in the mountains when it hit. He was caught out in it. He couldn't find shelter and got hit by lightning. The spirit watched as the man died but caught his spirit before it could fade into the spirit world. The spirit returned Vlad's spirit to his body and Vlad woke up. He became the "new avatar". His own spirit taking Raava's place as the spirit required. This meant two things. One, he could die and that would be it. It wouldn't start a new cycle. But, despite being a non-bender, he acquired abilities. Abilities I share. I don't know if there's a name for them but they don't function in the traditional way. By which I mean, it doesn't use forms to work, it works by my emotions and thoughts," Danny resumed.

"Wait, so you were born a non-bender but now you can bend?" Toph interrupted.

"Yes and no. I can't bend air, water, earth or fire. But I can bend, I guess, my own spirit or soul into doing what I want. A little like your energy-bending Aang I suppose," Danny answered, nodding to Aang.

"How did you know about that?" Aang inquired, shocked that Danny knew about his energy-bending abilities. Danny smiled.

"You'd be surprised how much spirits know," Danny replied.

"But back to the story, Vlad. He woke up with these abilities and he learned how to control them. He asked around in the spirit world and learned that the avatar was still alive. Then he went straight to the Fire nation and to the Fire Lord at the time. I think it was Fire Lord Zuko's grandfather at the time, Azulon. Spirits don't really care about that kind of thing but the dates match up from what I can tell. Anyway, he promised to find the avatar for the Fire nation and in return he would be rewarded with ruling the Earth kingdom, in its entirety. Vlad spent years looking. He uncovered many things about the spirits such as Wan Shi Tong's library which I believe Commander Zhao learned about from Vlad's notes. However since not even the spirits knew where Aang was, Vlad couldn't deliver on his promise and he was executed for lying to the Fire Lord. So the spirits were back to square one. In fact now they were worse off since Vlad had helped the Fire nation to destroy and defile shrines and temples furthering angering the spirits and tainting their world," Danny explained.

"Wait, so where do you come in?" Katara asked. Danny smiled grimly.

"I come in after Vlad was executed," Danny answered. Danny took a moment to throw a few logs onto the fire before the camp fire burned out before resuming.

"The spirit world was in a bad way. The spirits needed someone to repair things between this and their world before the two worlds completely separated and destroyed each other. They began to look for a second "new avatar". This time they didn't take the opportunity when it arose. They knew how to create another but they didn't want a repeat of Vlad. And a few years ago, the spirits found me," Danny continued. Danny took a deep breath and glanced at Sam and Tucker.

"When we were kids, we used to play out in the surrounding fields of our village all the time. It was there that I used to practice my bending," Sam picked up the story.

"She means show off," Tucker interjected. Sam glared at him.

"One day, when we were playing. A freak storm struck. I made an earth cave for me and Tucker but Danny wasn't close enough. He got hit by lightning. As soon as that happened, we ran over to him. He wasn't breathing and his heart had stopped. I ran back to the village to get help," Sam resumed.

"I stayed with Danny and tried to get him breathing again. But I didn't know what to do. I was a kid. But then he opened his eyes and gasped for breath. He passed out almost instantly," Tucker continued.

"I brought his dad with me and he carried Danny back to the village," Sam concluded.

"The next day, I woke up. I only remember snippets of what happened but I wasn't exactly awake. I was astral projecting and after a minor freak out I figured out how to return to my body. Over the next month I learned of my new abilities and had a few slip ups where I accidently entered the spirit world. After talking to a couple of spirits, I learned what I was and why the spirits had created me. A couple of years ago, a spirit attacked our village. Enraged about a forest fire caused by the Fire nation. I managed to talk it down and assured the spirit that we'd do our best to fix the damages. I gathered our village and we went out and put out any lingering flames and planted seeds we found from other parts of the forest. We cleared the dead trees and the spirit thanked us by giving our village better crops than usual. But word spread about what I did. People thought that I was, well you, Aang. They thought that since the Fire nation killed the Air Nomads and disrupted the avatar cycle, that I was the first non-bender avatar," Danny explained.

Everyone was silent as that information sank in.

"What happened?" Aang asked, sensing that something bad had happened.

"The Fire nation came. A spirit warned me and I tried to protect my village and friends and family by leaving. Sam and Tucker followed me. But it didn't work. The Fire nation burned down our village. There were no survivors," Danny answered softly, staring into the camp fire.

 **There's Danny's altered back story. And what Danny is exactly.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Don't forget to check out my website and participate in the poll. It's completely anonymous.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

Katara and Sokka shared a look.

"Danny… Sam, Tucker. We're sorry. We know that it's hard to lose people to the Fire nation. We lost our mom during a raid," Katara offered. Sam and Tucker nodded mutely in thanks. Danny shook his head.

"It's not the same, is it Aang?" Danny retorted, meeting Aang's gaze.

"What are you talking about?" Sokka demanded.

"He means, you guys weren't the reason your mom died. It was terrible but it wasn't your fault," Aang realised. Danny nodded slowly. Katara swallowed down her tears. She hadn't told Sokka, Toph or even Aang that it was because of her that their mother had been killed. Their mother had died to protect Katara from being taken and killed by the fire-benders.

"So what happened next?" Toph asked loudly. Danny smirked at her.

"We began to travel through the Earth kingdom. I heard the spirits as we went and resolved their issues. Anyone we met and thought I was the avatar, I told them I wasn't. At least that was until last winter," Danny answered. Toph frowned.

"Why? What happened last winter that changed that?" Toph inquired. Danny looked at Aang.

"The avatar returned," Danny replied. Aang blinked in surprise.

"You knew…" Aang trailed off. Danny nodded.

"Because of my connection to the spirit world, I knew instantly. Just like I knew that the Fire nation killed Tui and Princess Yue sacrificed herself to return balance," Danny confirmed.

"You felt that too!" Katara exclaimed. Danny nodded.

"He really scared us. He cried out all of a sudden and woke us all up during the night," Tucker interjected.

"Anyway, I knew that the avatar had returned. So, I began to make use of my astral projection to spy on Fire nation soldiers. The minute I heard that they were hunting you Aang, I stopped correcting people as readily about me not being the avatar," Danny continued. Aang frowned.

"Why did you do that?" he inquired. Danny smiled grimly.

"It's harder to track down the real thing when there's stories of a second avatar on the other side of the Earth kingdom coming in. You were keeping a low profile. Only had a few Fire nation soldiers following your trail. I wasn't. I was trying to protect you. I'm not important, not like you Aang. You were crucial to stopping the war. I was just a stand in for the spirits," Danny explained.

"But wasn't that dangerous," Katara pointed out. Danny nodded.

"It was. Hence why Tucker and Sam are always with me. I've been attacked by a lot of people while travelling. Fire nation soldiers and villagers. Some villages thought that I was pretending to be the avatar, like you did Sokka, even though I was the one that corrected them. They were angry with me and did try to punish me," Danny answered.

"But you were," Sokka pointed out. Sam, Tucker and Danny scowled at him.

"That was before Aang returned Sokka," Sam informed him. Sokka blinked.

"So, to keep you safe, I kept a close eye on how you were doing. Where you travelled and asked a lot of spirits for updates on what you'd done. When I heard through the gossipers that the avatar had been killed in Ba Sing Se, I asked the spirits and they told me what had happened. I went into hiding as well. I knew that you were pretending to be dead for a reason and I didn't want to endanger that," Danny continued. Aang glanced at Katara and Sokka. The whole pretend to be dead thing hadn't been his idea but it had paid off.

"Then I learned that you had revealed that you were alive, so I returned to being active and tried to help you that way again. Dunno if I did or not since you were seen in the Fire nation and I never left the Earth kingdom. But after the war ended, spirits have been even more vocal and destructive. So I've been trying to stop them getting out of control. So, I never tried to take your job Aang, it was just given to me and I tried to make the best of it," Danny finished.

"That doesn't explain why all the spirits are angry at Aang," Toph pointed out. Aang blinked in surprise. He'd forgotten that fact. Danny shook his head.

"Not all the spirits are angry. Just some. Those spirits are angry with Aang because he disappeared before the war began. They blame him for what happened. They believe that if Aang hadn't disappeared then the avatar could have prevented the war. The spirit here seems to be particularly angry but then again, it does feed on anger so it's to be expected," Danny explained.

Aang swallowed down his unease. The spirits were right. If Aang hadn't run away from the air temple and almost drowned in that storm, then he would have been around to try and stop the war. And if he couldn't then the avatar would have been reborn into the water tribe and the next avatar in the cycle might have resolved the war. Aang shook those thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't think like that. He's here now and he stopped the war, albeit a hundred years later.

"It isn't Aang's fault!" Katara growled defensively. Danny held up his hands to calm her.

"Easy Katara, I never said that I felt that way. I don't. But that's how a lot of spirits feel. Now that Aang understands that, then I dunno, maybe he can go into the spirit world and try and set the record straight," Danny replied.

"Yeah, great idea. Except Aang can't get into the spirit world," Sokka retorted, picking at his teeth.

"Sokka!" Aang hissed.

"What?" Sokka responded, with a confused frown. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" he inquired. Aang scowled angrily at Sokka before nodding sadly to Danny.

"Yeah, ever since Ba Sing Se. I've managed to speak with Roku but he came to me not the other way around, and even then he did it on the anniversary of his death," Aang explained.

Danny looked thoughtful.

"Well, death anniversaries are powerful days for spirits. But if you can energy-bend then you should be able to enter the spirit world. Hmm, unless… that might be it," Danny muttered softly to himself. Aang frowned at him.

"What? Do you know why I can't get into the spirit world?" Aang prompted. Danny bit his lip and nodded.

"I have an idea. It could be one of two things. Because the spirits are so angry at you, Raava might be protecting you and preventing you entering the spirit world, or it might be because the spirits are so angry at you that they've banished your spirit until you fix everything. Either way, I have an idea to fix it. But I need you to mediate and try to get into the spirit world for it to work," Danny answered.

Aang blinked in surprise and nodded.

"Sure, tell me where I'm going wrong," Aang requested. Danny shook his head.

"If you've met Koh, you can get into the spirit world by yourself. You just need a little push to break that barrier. Something I'll provide. So when you're ready," Danny explained. Aang bit his lip and nodded. He took a deep breath and folded his legs and held his hands at his navel. Danny then copied Aang and took a deep breath and as his eyes pulsed green, closed his eyes.

 **So a few more explanations and more back story.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far of the story.**

 **Make sure to check out my website and to contribute to the poll. It closes on the 12th of September.**

 **Until the next chapter**


	6. Chapter 6

"Did you see his eyes?! They glowed green!" Sokka exclaimed. Aang scowled, trying to focus on nothing but his breath.

"Calm down Sokka. That always happens when Danny goes into the spirit world," Sam assured him.

"Really?" Katara inquired. Aang violently sighed before returning to his breath. He needed quiet. It was hard enough without being watched and trying to ignore a rather interesting conversation. He heard Katara hiss at Sokka to be quiet and he fought to keep his face relaxed. He took another deep breath and began to relax into the familiar meditation position.

A few minutes later, Aang felt a presence hovering over him. Then he was roughly grabbed by the arm and pulled to his feet. His eyes snapped open and he turned to who had grabbed him, annoyed. But his annoyance vanished when he saw Danny standing there. His eyes were glowing a bright green and he was smiling at him.

"Took you long enough," he remarked. Aang frowned before he glanced down at the fire and noticed that no one had moved including himself and Danny.

"So, that's all I needed?" Aang asked sceptically. Danny chuckled.

"Not exactly. Now you can astral project again. Come on, maybe you'll notice something at the shrine that I missed," Danny suggested. Aang raised an eyebrow.

"But what about the others?" Aang began. Danny shook his head.

"They'll be fine. Sam and Tucker are used to me disappearing off for hours at a time. Besides, they can handle anything that happens at the camp. Trust me," Danny replied. Aang ran after Danny.

"So, what's the difference between entering the spirit world and astral projecting?" Aang asked after a long silence. The camp fire had disappeared from view long ago. Danny glanced at him.

"You don't know the difference? Didn't the monks or Guru Pathik explain it?" Danny inquired.

"How do you know about Guru Pathik?" Aang retorted surprised. Danny laughed.

"Spirits. I checked in on you through the spirits the day before you "died" at Ba Sing Se," Danny answered.

"Oh, no. No one explained anything to me about all this spirit stuff. I didn't even know how to communicate with them until I met Hei Bai and it took me an entire day and help from Roku to get back in my body," Aang admitted. Danny nodded.

"I get it. Well, to answer your question, astral projection is releasing your spirit from your body to leave it behind and like now, explore. Entering the spirit world is similar except you leave the living world behind completely. It's easier to do at spiritual places like shrines or temples. If you can astral project, you can usually enter the spirit world," Danny explained.

Aang bit his lip and glanced at Danny.

"I guess you're disappointed," Aang ventured. Danny frowned and turned to Aang.

"What do you mean?" Danny inquired. Aang shrugged.

"You hear stories of what the world was like before the war and heard about all-powerful and wise avatars. Then you get to become a replacement for the avatar and I come back. Then you run around putting your neck on the line for me and when you finally meet me, I'm a kid and can't even do my own job," Aang guessed bitterly. Danny smiled.

"Couldn't be further from the truth Aang. I never wanted any of this. I may not have fought in the war but I'm happy that I could help," Danny replied. Aang blinked in surprise.

"So you aren't disappointed? It's okay to say if you are, I mean people usually are when they expect some powerful avatar and get a kid," Aang prompted. Danny laughed.

"Aang, I'm not disappointed. I'm honoured to meet you. I've heard about what you've done. The stories are impressive. Besides after a hundred years missing, I consider myself lucky to get to see the end of the war and play a part in helping the returning avatar, honest," Danny answered.

Aang scowled in thought, absorbing the meaning behind those words.

"How did you learn all this stuff? Did you have a teacher or something?" Aang asked. Danny shook his head.

"Not exactly. The first few months I spent learning how to control my abilities like I said and slipping in and out of the spirit world and astral projection. After that I started to explore the village and surrounding woods and fields while astral projecting. I came across a shrine and accidently got sucked into the spirit world. It took me ages to find a helpful spirit that could explain things to me. Spirits don't really go by names unless the names are important. Like Raava and Vaatu or Koh and Hei Bai. Anyway, the spirit explained to me where I was, how to get out and what I was. By the time I got back, apparently I had been meditating for two days. I got into a lot of trouble once I explained myself," Danny recalled with a sad smile. Aang gave him a sympathetic smile.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened to your village Danny. I blamed myself for what happened to the Air Nomads and the world because of the war. I blamed myself for Monk Gyatso's death. But you can't live if you keep thinking about what you should have done, what you could have done differently. By doing that, you're taking away any bravery your village had when they faced those fire-benders," Aang informed him softly. Danny glanced at him.

"And you say you're not wise and powerful?" Danny commented. Aang smirked and rubbed his bald head and shrugged. Danny sighed.

"I understand what you're saying Aang. But I guess I still blame myself. If I had warned them sooner or stayed then maybe more of the villagers and maybe my family might have survived," Danny confessed. Aang smiled comfortingly, this was something Danny had to come to terms with in his own time.

They came to a stop and Danny motioned a small stone statue in front of him.

"This is the shrine. Not much I know but this is it," Danny announced. Aang frowned at the statue.

"How did you even find it?" Aang muttered. Danny laughed.

"Lots of searching. This is what I've been doing all afternoon," Danny answered. Aang nodded and approached it. He examined the statue, trying to brush dust or leaves away a few times only to grumble in annoyance when his hand passed through it.

Aang turned back to Danny and shrugged.

"I can't see anything here. Might be able to see more tomorrow and in person," Aang admitted. Danny nodded.

"That's what I planned to do. But you see there," Danny replied and pointed to a small alcove in the statue. Aang nodded.

"I think it might be a candle holder. Might be worth lighting a candle and putting it there. The spirit was angry about its dying fire. Maybe giving it actual fire might help," Danny suggested. Aang frowned.

"Think that will work?" Aang inquired. Danny half-shrugged.

"Stuff like that has worked in the past. One spirit destroyed a farm because the farmer forgot to put an offering in its shrine. Luckily I was in the area and I stopped the spirit destroying the crops entirely and settled the miscommunication," Danny answered. Aang nodded thoughtfully.

"It's worth a try. So, do you mind if me and my friends join you at your camp tonight? I mean it's too dark now to find somewhere else to camp," Aang requested. Danny shook his head.

"Not a problem but I wouldn't be surprised if our friends have already sorted that out. You're welcome to bring Appa too," Danny answered. Aang grinned and they began the long trek back to the camp fire and their bodies.

 **A little bonding between Aang and Danny.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

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 **com**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

Danny slowly opened his eyes and they faded to his usual blue and smiled at Sam and Tucker watching him. He turned to Aang as the light illuminating his tattoos faded and he too opened his eyes.

"So, you managed to get into the spirit world," Katara prompted. Aang shook his head.

"We were astral projecting," Danny answered. Katara scowled.

"Meaning?" Katara questioned. Danny smiled.

"Halfway to the spirit world. I showed Aang where that spirit's shrine was and he examined it. We're planning to go back tomorrow and take a better look in the daylight," Danny explained. Aang nodded and then frowned.

"Where's Sokka and Toph?" he asked.

"Getting Appa and Momo. We're going to camp here tonight if that's alright," Katara replied. Danny smirked.

"I told you that would be the case," Danny remarked. Aang smiled at him and nodded.

"I better have a look for a couple of candles. I think I have some in my bag," Danny informed the group as he stood up and stretched. He strolled over to where he had meditated earlier to retrieve his pack. Sam frowned at him before joining him to help him look. Tucker started to gather the bowls into a pile. Katara turned to Aang.

"So, you seem more relaxed. Did you have a talk with Danny or something?" Katara commented. Aang nodded.

"Yeah, he explained a few things to me. He really blames himself for what happened to his village. I mean, he's been dealing with it for a couple of years now and he still hasn't gotten over it," Aang informed her softly. Katara bit her lip.

"I have something to tell you. I found out why my mother was killed in that raid," Katara whispered nervously. Aang frowned at her.

"That raid had been looking for a water-bender, me. The fire-bender who killed my mother asked her about me and she lied. She told the soldier that she was the water-bender," Katara revealed. Aang stared at her.

"When did you find this out? Why didn't you tell me then?" Aang questioned. Katara hung her head.

"I found out when Zuko helped me find the fire-bender responsible and I didn't tell you before because I had to come to terms with it myself," Katara admitted. Aang frowned.

"But why are you telling me now?" Aang inquired, confused. Katara sniffled.

"Because I just realised when Danny said that it wasn't the same for us to lose our mom and for you two to lose your homes. I know it isn't but I wanted to tell someone and I don't think Sokka would understand. And Toph…" Katara explained.

"Isn't exactly approachable. Katara, I had no idea," Aang finished and pulled her into a hug. Katara began to cry softly into his shoulder. Danny looked up and gave Aang a confused look. Aang shook his head at him and pulled Katara closer.

Slowly Katara regained her composure and wiped away the tears and went to help Tucker clean the bowls. Aang watched her go and then turned to the sky as he heard a grumble he recognised. He smiled. Appa was coming in for a landing. Aang got to his feet and greeted his flying bison and Momo when Sokka and Toph arrived.

"Oh, great, you're awake. So what intel did you get on the imposter?" Sokka muttered conspiratorially. Aang rolled his eyes and shrugged the arm around his shoulders off.

"He's not an imposter Sokka. He's really nice when you get to know him. Thanks for bringing Appa and Momo for me. And thanks Toph!" Aang replied. Toph waved dismissively in his direction and trudged over to Sam.

"If you want me to teach you, you have to show me what you can do," Toph announced. Sam blinked in surprise before grinning and nodding.

"Of course! Tell me when you want me to start," Sam replied. Toph smiled and blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"How about now?" Toph suggested. Sam nodded and ran a little away from everyone and began to calm her breathing. Everyone gathered together to watch.

"I can't wait for this. Finally someone to stop her showing off all the time," Tucker chuckled. Danny elbowed him in the side.

"You're only saying that because you're jealous that she can bend and you can't," Danny retorted. Tucker scowled at his friend, rubbing his ribs.

"She's been rubbing it in my face ever since she could lift little pebbles! I'm going to enjoy this," Tucker grumbled. Danny rolled his eyes.

Sam then thrust her fist downwards and kicked forward and began to bend the earth around her in the most impressive way possible.

"Looks good," Sokka remarked. Katara nodded.

"It does, except her foot work is sloppy," Aang informed them. Tucker bit back a laugh.

"So, she isn't as good as she thinks she is," Tucker sniggered. Danny glared at him.

"What if I told you that's she's self-taught? Her uncle was conscripted into the army and he was the only other earth-bender in our village," Danny replied. Aang's eyes widened in shock.

"She's self-taught! Completely?" Aang inquired. Danny nodded.

"I think her uncle told her about breathing techniques, which is why she's obsessed about them but other than that she's learned by experimenting or watching soldiers that marched through our village every now and again," Danny answered. Sokka whistled impressed.

After five minutes of earth-bending, Sam was panting for breath but grinning excitedly at Toph.

"Well?" Sam prompted. Toph frowned.

"Your basics are messy. Honestly, I'm surprised that you can bend at all with that technique. But I overheard Danny saying that you're completely self-taught. So your mistakes should be easy enough to fix, if you work at it. First thing, you need to protect your core, like this," Toph informed her and demonstrated by holding her hands across her body.

"That means your movements will be tighter and you'll flow better, for example," Toph resumed and thrust her arms out, stomped down and pulled her arms back into her body, lifting a large chunk of earth out of the ground. Sam nodded and mimicked Toph eagerly.

Toph smiled and nodded.

"See? You're improving already. I'll teach you Sam," Toph agreed. Sam grinned broadly and rushed forward and took Toph's hand.

"Thank you so much. What do I call you, now that you're my teacher?" Sam asked.

"Aang used to call me Sifu Toph. That's fine by me," Toph suggested. Sam nodded and bowed to Toph.

"Thank you Sifu Toph," Sam amended. Toph smirked.

"I like this girl," she commented over her shoulder. Tucker gaped at her and then slumped.

"Great, she's never going to let me forget this," he grumbled.

 **Everyone's making friends. Yay!**

 **Let me know what you think so far.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

The next day Danny and Aang led the way to the shrine. Danny had found a total of three candles. Toph and Sam trailed at the back of the group. Toph explaining a few more of the earth-bending basics. Tucker and Sokka spent the walk bonding as neither of them could bend and could relate. Katara spent the walk listening to Danny explain a few of his encounters with previous spirits to Aang. Katara could tell that Aang appreciated the advice and stories since he didn't have much experience dealing with spirits. There hadn't exactly been a lot of opportunities between finding bending masters to learn from and running from the Fire nation.

They reached the shrine by mid-morning. Danny and Aang examined the shrine closely for another ten minutes before resigning to trying to fix everything by lighting the candles. Toph blindfolded Sam during this time and ordered her to see using vibrations. After a few tries and a few painful hits from Toph's earth-bending, Sam started to get the hang of it. Tucker and Sokka spent the entire time joking with each other having found that they had a similar sense of humour.

They watched the candles and the tiny flames flutter in the slight breeze for a few minutes.

"Alright, second problem. Aang, let's get you into the spirit world," Danny announced and sat down on the ground. Aang joined him.

"You're sure it'll work this time?" Aang asked. Danny shrugged.

"It should. But I need to go in there anyway to ask around about this spirit. Might as well do both things at the same time," Danny replied. Aang nodded and closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply.

"You guys be alright for a couple of hours?" Danny asked the group.

"Sure, you go ahead man," Tucker affirmed. Danny nodded with a smile.

"If you have to move our bodies, take us to where we camped last night," Danny suggested and took a deep breath and closed his eyes as they glowed green.

Katara and Sokka frowned at each other.

"That's usual for Danny. We once got attacked while he was in the spirit world. Took him hours to find his body and that was only because Sam went back and left him a note. So now every time he goes into the spirit world out in the open, we set a second meeting place in case we have to move," Tucker explained.

"Smart," Sokka complimented as Aang's tattoos began to glow as Aang joined Danny in the spirit world. Tucker nodded. Then the three of them sat down and watched Toph training Sam.

Aang got up on to his feet and scanned the new surroundings. He was on a stone plinth in the middle of a shallow lake. Then he saw Danny and yelped in surprise. His black hair was now pure white, his eyes glowed green and his body glowed slightly. His light coloured clothes had turned so dark, they seemed black. Danny turned to him and smiled.

"Sorry, probably should have warned you. Didn't think since no one has ever seen me like this. This is my spirit form. It's unique to people like me," Danny explained. Aang nodded dumbly, staring at him. Danny snorted and shook his head.

"I think I look better with dark hair, what about you? White makes me look like an old man," Danny joked. Aang smiled weakly and shrugged.

"You just look so… different. I wasn't expecting it," Aang replied.

Danny nodded and pointed off in the distance.

"We should head that way. My gut is saying that we'll find answers in that direction," Danny suggested. Aang nodded and took a step that way.

"Woah! Hang on Aang. That mightn't be water. Could be a spirit or a portal deeper into the spirit world. Let me check first and I'll show you the warning signs," Danny warned. Aang gulped and stepped back. Danny walked to the edge of the plinth and knelt down to peer deeply into the water. He nodded.

"No worries, it's water. Just me being paranoid or something. I'll show you how I know, come here," Danny called over his shoulder. Aang knelt beside Danny. Danny smiled.

"Alright, you need to get really close and look into it. I mean really look. If something is moving then it's not water. If it's completely still, usually it's water. Then you need to focus on your sense of smell. If it smells of anything, don't touch it. If it doesn't then it's water. I wouldn't try drinking it unless you're desperate but it's safe enough to touch," Danny explained.

Then they both straightened and Danny stepped off the plinth and waited a second before motioning for Aang to follow him. They waded through the ankle-deep water and soon reached the shore. Danny scanned the trees ahead of them before walking purposefully forwards.

"Shouldn't we mark our way or something," Aang suggested cautiously. Danny blinked at him before smiling and shook his head.

"Spirits, particularly the ones here, love to mess with markers. Also the surroundings tend to change. You need to focus on your instincts and internal map here Aang. My gut is telling me that that other path is a dead end. This way looks safe to me," Danny answered. Aang glanced at the well-lit rejected path and then looked at the ominously dark winding pathway Danny had chosen.

"You're sure?" Aang asked. Danny nodded.

"Aang, close your eyes and listen to everything around and inside you, Raava should guide you here since she used to live here. She's been here many times with many avatars. Listen to her guidance," Danny advised. Aang frowned at Danny but sighed and obeyed. Deep inside, he felt a feeling drawing him towards the path Danny chose. He took a small step towards the one he would have chosen and felt an overwhelming sense of foreboding. Aang opened his eyes and blinked in surprise. Danny smiled kindly.

"It takes practice to learn to listen to those feelings," Danny informed him before walking to the path he had chosen.

After a long time the dark pathway opened up into a desolate clearing with a large fire pit but a dying fire. Danny frowned at it.

"Hmm, doesn't look like our candles are doing anything," Danny commented.

"No, they did help. But not enough," a voice informed them. The spirit from the village emerged from the shadows. Now the spirit seemed calmer, brighter. It was no longer a simple shadow with dangerous claws. It took the form of a beautiful woman with unusually large hands with wickedly sharp fingers. She had long flowing blonde hair and bright red eyes. Then she spotted Aang. She hissed angrily at him and her hair floated up into the air and her eyes seemed to flicker with fire.

"You dare bring him here!" she growled. Danny stepped in front of Aang.

"Sorry, Aang, I'm going to have to overstep," he whispered. Aang remained silent.

"He's here to help me find out what happened to your fire. I'm sorry his presence offends you but he cannot return to his body without me. Please, I'm trying to help you," Danny lied. The spirit glowered at him.

"You're lying to me," she grumbled. Danny smiled.

"Causing anger, no? Is it helping?" Danny bluffed. The spirit took a deep breath and nodded.

"It is. I'll let this insult slide. But be warned avatar, I have not forgiven you," the spirit announced. Danny stepped away from Aang and Aang nodded.

"I want to apologise for the trouble I caused you for my absence. There is no excuse for it. I am truly sorry and I want to make it up to you and all the other spirits," Aang apologised humbly. Danny glanced at the spirit. She seemed shocked before smiling and her hair fluttered down to settle around her shoulders.

"Gratitude avatar. It is a nice change from your usual approach of ordering us to forgive you," the spirit mentioned. Aang frowned but held his tongue. He could ask Danny what she meant later.

Danny approached the fire. His expression grew stony and hard.

"I see, you're fire is fuelled by strong feelings. Anger, love, revenge. But not sadness or fear," Danny remarked and stepped away, his expression relaxing into his more familiar gentle but serious expression. The spirit nodded.

"I'm the spirit of passion. And nothing creates fiery passion than revenge, love or anger," the spirit confirmed. Danny nodded.

"But fire, pure fire also fuels it, right?" Danny continued. The spirit nodded.

"So our candles, they did help?" Danny prompted.

"A little. My fire has been nothing but hot embers for weeks. You have brought it back into actual flames," the spirit admitted. Danny smiled and nodded.

"Thank you. I believe I have a way to fix this. Would it be enough for this to be refuelled by fire annually?" Danny inquired. The spirit nodded.

"As long as it's more fire than a few candles," the spirit agreed. Danny bowed.

"Thank you for being so understanding. I know it isn't your nature and we appreciate that greatly," Danny concluded and straightened. Aang copied Danny's bow and thanked the spirit as well.

 **Back to the problem at hand. Any guesses what Danny's idea might be?**

 **Don't forget to contribute in the poll for the next fanfic I post. Closes on the 12th. The poll is confidential to all. It can be found on my website.**

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 **Until the next chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

Aang followed Danny in silence as they walked across a massive empty field.

"I see what you meant by the landscape changing," Aang commented. Danny laughed and slowed half a step so Aang could walk alongside him.

"I'm sorry for back there Aang. I didn't want to undermine your authority with that spirit but I knew that if you had tried that, she would have attacked us. I really am sorry," Danny apologised softly. Aang shook his head.

"I should be thanking you. I didn't have a clue about what to do. What did she mean by me ordering spirits to forgive me?" Aang inquired. Danny smiled grimly.

"Spirits don't generally trust humans or their excuses. By making excuses or reasoning with spirits about… er being away. It angers them. By trying to move on, you are dismissing their feelings and in a way ordering them to forget it. As the avatar, spirits are obliged to obey you. Not all do but most will. But ordering them around, however unintentional, it upsets them," Danny explained. Aang blinked in surprise but nodded. Now it made sense why all the spirits hadn't been listening to him.

Danny came to a stop and held out an arm to stop Aang.

"What's up?" Aang asked. Danny pointed down and Aang saw the water. Danny knelt down and scowled.

"It's not water. We'll have to go around. Check for yourself so you know for future reference," Danny announced. Aang knelt down and stared into the water. Despite the water not being more than a foot deep, it fell into shadow at the bottom and there seemed to be a swirling motion. Also the pool of water-like substance gave off a faint smell of flowers. Danny and Aang straightened and began to walk around the pool.

Danny suddenly groaned.

"What?! What's wrong?" Aang immediately questioned. Danny sighed.

"To get out of the spirit world we need to meditate where we came in. That stone plinth should be around here somewhere and I just found it," Danny explained and pointed into the middle of the pool of not-water. Aang squinted and spotted the plinth they had to get to.

"Oh, so we have to go through it don't we?" Aang realised. Danny shook his head.

"No, I can get us there. But it's going to drain me. Chances are the minute we get back, I'll pass out since I have to get there with a passenger," Danny admitted. Aang frowned.

"How? The only way we could get there would be to fly and I can't air-bend in the spirit world. I know that much," Aang inquired. Danny nodded.

"Normal bending doesn't work here," Danny agreed before scanning the lake, looking for anywhere closer to the plinth. He scowled finding the lake a perfect circle.

"But my special bending does work here. I told you my bending is from my spirit or soul. Not sure if there's a difference with me. I can fly but it drains me a lot, especially when I'm carrying someone," Danny explained. Aang frowned. Danny sighed and edged closer to the lake.

"Aang come a little closer, I don't want to fly for longer than I have to," Danny called.

Aang edged closer to the lake and gasped as Danny began to breathe deeply and floated into the air. He grabbed Aang by the arms and lifted them both into the air and sped to the plinth. He stopped above it and lowered Aang gently on to it before falling heavily to his feet. He gasped for air. Aang's eyes widened in concern to see Danny looking pale and sweaty.

"Danny, are you alright?" Aang asked. Danny nodded shakily.

"Yeah, I've just never carried someone when I'm in the spirit world. It was a lot harder than I expected," Danny mumbled. Aang sat down with Danny and waited for him to catch his breath. Danny smiled gratefully to Aang.

"Alright, I think I can meditate now. But I'll definitely pass out when we return to our bodies. Don't panic, it's just so I can get back my energy. Tell Sam and Tucker that I had to use my bending and they'll understand," Danny informed him.

Aang nodded and waited for Danny to start breathing slowly and measured.

"I'm not leaving until you do Aang, in case you get trapped or something," Danny told him with a smile, sounding a lot better already. Aang smiled and nodded. He settled into his favourite meditation position and began to breathe deeply. Slowly the world around him faded and he returned to his body and he heard Toph's voice explaining a form to Sam.

"Aang! You're back!" Katara exclaimed as his tattoos faded and he opened his eyes. Aang smiled at her and turned to Danny.

Danny heaved a big sigh and opened his eyes. They pulsed green before fading to blue then they rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the side.

"Danny?!" Katara shouted and ran forwards, already taking out water from her water bag to heal him.

"Danny? Aang what happened in there?" Tucker inquired, rushing to Danny's side before Katara.

"He told me to tell you that he had to use his bending," Aang recalled. Tucker glanced at Aang before nodding.

"Katara, he's fine. Just unconscious. He just needs to rest. This has happened before," Tucker informed the water-bender. Katara blinked in disbelief.

"Maybe I should check," Katara suggested. Tucker shrugged.

"Be my guest but you won't find anything. He's just exhausted. He'll wake up in a few hours looking for some food and he'll be fine," Tucker replied.

Katara knelt beside Danny and swept her water encased hands over his body but didn't find anything needing to be healed. She returned her water to her water bag before turning to Aang.

"What happened in there?" she ventured fearfully. Aang shook his head.

"Nothing bad. We found the spirit that attacked yesterday and Danny figured out a way to help the spirit, he didn't say what. Then we walked back to where we entered the spirit world and then we came across a lake of stuff. We had to get to the centre to get out but Danny said it was dangerous to touch the lake. So he… he used his bending to get us to the island," Aang recalled. Katara frowned.

"I thought you can't use bending in the spirit world," Katara reminded him. Aang nodded.

"You can't. But Danny said because his bending is special, he can bend in the spirit world. But he warned me that he would pass out the minute he got back," Aang explained.

"Danny's bending comes from him. Normal bending like air-bending, water-bending and so on, they come from the mind forcing their control on to external objects. Like Katara's water in her bag or the air around us, or the earth we're walking on. Danny's bending is derived from his very being. He uses too much energy at once and he passes out. A little like the avatar state when you trigger it for defence, I hear," Tucker explained. Aang, Katara and Sokka were watching Tucker, listening. Toph had stopped concentrating on her lesson and began to listen.

"Danny probably used his bending to fly. That drains him a lot, especially when he's carrying something or someone. But I think using his bending in the spirit world drains him even more than usual. But after some rest, he'll be fine," Sam resumed for Tucker still practicing a particularly tricky hand flick form for her earth-bending.

Aang nodded.

"Yeah, that's what happened exactly," Aang confirmed. Tucker dragged Danny's arm around his shoulder.

"It's probably a good idea if we go back to camp and get a fire and food going," Tucker suggested. Sokka stepped forward and grabbed Danny's other arm and together both non-benders half-carried and half-dragged Danny towards the camp they made the previous night. Grudgingly Toph and Sam followed, loathed to interrupt their earth-bending lesson. Aang and Katara followed afterwards.

 **A little more on how Danny's special bending works. In case you're wondering, Danny's ghost powers are his bending.**

 **Let me know what you think.**

 **Don't miss your chance to vote in the poll on my website for the next fanfic. Any choice could still win. Not much time left!**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10

Three hours later, Danny slowly woke up. Tucker grabbed a bowl of food and handed it to him immediately. Danny smiled blearily at Tucker and began to eat.

"So, that's happened before?" Katara asked suddenly. Danny swallowed the food in his mouth and nodded.

"The first time it happened, I was in the spirit world and the landscape changed around me unexpectedly. Ended up falling off a cliff. Instinctively, I caught myself by using my bending. Before that I didn't think my bending would work. But anyway, I came back after that, too tired to keep going in the spirit world and as soon as I got back, I passed out. When I woke up, I was starving and Sam and Tucker were freaking out," Danny recalled. He resumed eating his meal.

"Well, of course we were freaking out. We didn't know about the whole using his bending too much made him pass out thing. We thought something had happened in the spirit world and stopped him coming back or something," Tucker retorted and poked at the fire. Sam and Toph were practicing earth-bending.

"How many times has it happened?" Aang asked. Tucker scowled at Danny. Danny finished the food and placed the bowl on the ground beside him.

"Not many times. Maybe five or six times. Most of the time it's because the landscape decided to change but a couple of times I had to fight off a spirit. Not all spirits approved of creating me," Danny answered.

"That's too many times in my opinion," Tucker grumbled softly.

"Oh come on Tuck, I don't mean for those things to happen. At least Aang was here this time to tell you guys what happened," Danny pointed out. Tucker shrugged.

"I guess, and we can always tell if you've passed out or gotten trapped in the spirit world," Tucker relented.

"How?" Sokka inquired. Tucker smiled.

"Danny's eyes. When he's in the spirit world, they're green. So if he falls over unconscious, all me and Sam have to do is check his eyes. If they're green, he's doing spirit business. If they're blue, he's passed out for some reason. We found that out the second or third time Danny collapsed on us," Tucker answered.

There were a few moments of silence. Tucker tossed a few more logs on to the fire and picked up Danny's bowl and went to wash it.

"So, um. Your bending… what can you do?" Aang ventured. Danny smiled.

"I can fly, but not for long. I can turn myself intangible and invisible. They take the least energy. I can fire off a blast of energy. I can also do a scream. It's really destructive and powerful. I wouldn't dare do it unless there's no other choice. The first time I used it, accidently of course, I wiped out a lot of Fire nation soldiers, half the village I was in and passed out for a day. I might be able to do other things but that's what I know I can do. I can also sense spirits," Danny answered. Aang, Katara and Sokka blinked in surprise and let that information sink in.

Tucker returned with some more firewood and stoked the fire. Danny smirked at his friend.

"Sulking?" Danny asked. Tucker glared at him.

"No! Why would I be sulking?" Tucker responded defensively. Danny chuckled and nodded to Sam who was using her earth-bending to juggling a number of rocks mid-air while blindfolded.

"Because Sam is busy earth-bending and you were stuck looking after me," Danny guessed, knowing his friend well enough to know he was right. Tucker scowled at him.

"No, I just don't see the need for her to keep rubbing it in my face," Tucker grumbled. Danny rolled his eyes. Aang frowned.

"Shouldn't you be happy for her? She's finally found a teacher and Toph's a good one to have," Aang pointed out. Tucker blinked before nodding slowly.

"Sorry, yeah. You're right. It's just not easy when everyone around you is able to do cool stuff like bending rocks or talking with spirits. Guess I'm jealous," Tucker whispered, surprising Danny.

"I know it's hard Tucker, but I'm sure you can do stuff that Sam and Danny can't," Sokka offered, understanding Tucker's situation too well. Tucker shrugged.

"Collecting firewood," Tucker muttered. Danny nudged Tucker.

"Tuck, you're the best archer I've met. And you're really smart. I mean you're great at figuring out machines and temple mechanisms," Danny informed him. Tucker smiled slightly at that.

"Really? Sokka's pretty good with machines too. He helped an inventor we know to make some weapons and transport that really helped us in the war," Katara remarked. Sokka straightened proudly, puffing out his chest.

"Ah well, you know just doing what I can," Sokka announced loudly with an attempt at being modest.

Tucker grinned and began to ask about the inventions which Sokka was more than happy to tell him about. Danny, Aang and Katara smirked at the non-benders.

"Guys we have a group of people coming this way. They feel really heavy, so might be soldiers!" Toph shouted unexpectedly. Sam tore off the blindfold and glanced at Danny. Tucker jumped to his feet, abandoning his conversation with Sokka and grabbed his bow and quiver. Tucker notched an arrow and Sam rushed over to Danny's side.

"Woah, paranoid much?" Toph remarked. Sam shook her head.

"Soldiers usually attack Danny. And since his bending wears him out too much to be useful in a fight, we have to protect him," Sam retorted.

Aang, Katara and Sokka got to their feet as well. Then a group of fifteen Fire nation soldiers burst into the clearing. They were deserters.

"The avatar? And the false avatar! Men, surround and attack," a large burly man in important looking armour commanded. The soldiers obeyed and spread out, circling the teenagers. Toph and Sam stomped down on the ground in perfect unison and the ground cracked open, catching a lot of soldiers off guard. Aang used his air-bending to blow attackers away and he redirected fire the soldiers were using against them. Sokka threw his boomerang at a soldier and then pulled out a sword he'd been given until his space sword was found. Katara opened her water bag and formed watery tentacles around herself, knocking the soldiers over and freezing them to the ground. Tucker loosed arrow after arrow at any soldiers that got close to Danny. Danny dodged fire blasts thrown at him, turning intangible sometimes. Within a few minutes the deserter Fire nation soldiers were defeated, lying unconscious around their clearing. The teens quickly gathered everything together and jumped on to Appa, fleeing the clearing before any soldiers came around and attacked them again.

 **Thought we could use some action.**

 **Poll will close tomorrow, mid-day, Greenwich Meantime. Make sure to make your choice before it closes.**

 **jbgilroy.**

 **weebly.**

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 **Until the next chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11

Tucker was the first to wake up the next day. They'd spent the next couple of hours after the attack, finding a new camp site and scouting for any other soldiers in the area. Aang warned the village of the deserters' presence. Then they set up their new camp and spent the evening talking. Tucker stood up and stretched. He scanned the camp. Sokka and Danny were sleeping in sleeping bags by the fire. Aang was sleeping beside Appa, Momo curled up with him. Katara and Sam were sleeping in a tent that Katara had. And Toph had created a stone tent beside it for herself. Tucker sighed and noticed that their camp fire had gone out. Grumbling, Tucker grabbed a bunch of sticks and fetched his flint. Biting back curses, Tucker eventually hit the stones together without hitting his knuckles or getting burnt by the sparks.

Danny yawned and sat up a few minutes later.

"Morning Tuck. Great job getting the fire going," Danny remarked, nodding to the roaring fire. Tucker smiled and threw a log on the fire.

"Thanks. Feeling better after yesterday?" Tucker replied. Danny nodded and got out of his sleeping bag and rolled it up and stuffed it into his pack.

"So do you know what you're gonna do about this spirit. Isn't it coming back tonight?" Tucker inquired. Danny nodded and sat down beside Tucker.

"Yeah, I have an idea. But I have to get the villagers to agree to it. Still trying to figure out the details," Danny answered. Tucker smiled and poked the fire and tossed a few sticks in. Danny glanced to their pile of firewood.

"Come on. We should get some more wood," Danny suggested and nudged Tucker's arm as he got up. Tucker frowned.

"Sam doesn't like it when you don't tell her where you're going," Tucker reminded him. Danny laughed.

"She's way too protective sometimes. Come on, we'll be back before she wakes up and we need firewood," Danny retorted. Tucker shrugged and followed Danny into the forest.

By the time Danny and Tucker returned, laughing and smiling after some much needed bonding time alone together, everyone else had woken up. Sam stomped over to them.

"Where have you been!?" she demanded. Tucker cowered behind Danny. Sam had a temper worse than most fire-benders.

"Getting firewood. See?" Danny answered, motioning to the large bundle of sticks and logs in his arms. Sam scowled at him.

"You know that you shouldn't go-" Sam began.

"Alone? I was with Tucker. It was fine," Danny interrupted. Tucker carefully edged around Danny and darted away from Sam, busying himself with the fire. Katara and Aang had gone to get water for cooking breakfast and for the camp to drink.

"Tucker didn't have his bow and quiver! How could he protect you if those fire-benders came after you?" Sam pointed out, gesturing angrily at Tucker's bow and quiver. Danny flinched.

"Sam nothing happened. We're fine. Calm down. Besides I'm getting better with my bending," Danny informed her. Sam growled at him.

"That's not the point! You can't just go off like that. You should have told one of us first," Sam snarled. Danny walked carefully around her and dumped the firewood on the ground.

Sokka and Toph watched the exchanged with confused expressions.

"You know, if I didn't know better. I'd think that they were a couple or something," Sokka commented. Tucker smirked.

"Don't say it Tuck. Sam will probably use you for target practice," Danny warned. Tucker paled and nodded, biting his lip. Danny and Tucker glanced at Sam as she returned to preparing the food.

"Why would Sam use Tucker as target practice?" Sokka whispered. Danny shook his head.

"Tucker has been trying to play matchmaker with us for years. Sam gets really angry at him whenever he suggests it. And honestly, Sam's in a bad enough mood already," Danny explained softly.

"So what was that all about?" Toph inquired, changing the subject. Danny smiled grimly.

"A while ago, I went to get firewood alone. We were deep in Fire nation soldier territory and I was captured. They were about to cart me off to the Fire Lord when Sam found me and used her bending to get me away from the soldiers. After that, we all agreed that I'd never go anywhere without one of them in case I got attacked. Two or three people are harder to capture than one," Danny answered. Sokka and Toph nodded knowingly.

A few minutes later Katara and Aang returned with water for everyone and they cooked their meal and ate, mainly in silence since Sam was fuming. Once everyone had finished, Sam volunteered to clean the dishes, despite it usually being Danny or Tucker's chore.

"So, that spirit is coming back tonight, right? What was your idea Danny?" Aang asked. Danny smiled.

"Well, those candles we lit helped that spirit, so I thought that if we made a bigger fire-" Danny began to explain.

"Sam's in trouble!" Toph exclaimed. Danny immediately stopped talking and turned to Toph.

"Where? We have to help her!" Danny retorted worriedly. Toph got to her feet and ran off towards the river.

Aang and Danny followed close behind her and then Katara and finally Sokka and Tucker who had had to gather their weapons first. They arrived at the riverside to see almost fifty deserter soldiers fighting Sam. Sam had risen blockades of earth and threw boulders at any exposed fire-bender but she was outnumbered and overwhelmed. Toph scowled angrily and stomped down on the ground and thrust her hands out and joined the fight. Sokka ran straight into the fight without stopping, sword swinging wildly. Katara sprinted to the river and began to bend the water to her will. Danny stared at the fight before taking a deep breath. Tucker noticed his friend and stood by his side, bow ready and arrow aiming at any soldier that was too close. Danny then raised his fist and created a ball of green light and threw it at the soldier closest to Sam. Aang gasped at the sight of green energy materialising from Danny's fingertips before turning to his friends and began to bend the air around him into strong gusts of wind and separated the fire-benders.

Eventually Aang and Danny were able to make their way through the fighting to Sam's side and grabbed her hand and dragged her into the forest. Sokka, Katara, Toph and Tucker followed shortly afterwards. However the soldiers chased after them and they got spilt up.

 **Some more action. And some more on Danny bending.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Poll's closing today at 12:00 Greenwich Meantime.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

Danny gasped for air and glanced at Aang and Sam, both breathless from running also.

"Think we lost them?" Danny whispered. Sam shook her head.

"Not sure, but we've definitely lost the others," Aang replied. Danny nodded.

"Maybe we should try and find camp again and then we might be able to find them from there," Danny suggested. Sam and Aang shrugged.

"Worth a shot," Sam replied.

"So what way is camp?" Danny wondered aloud and turned in a slow circle, frowning. Aang and Sam shared a look before shrugging.

"Looks like we've gotten lost ourselves," Aang retorted.

"Great! This is just like that time you held the map in that crazy spooky swamp we cut through!" Sam growled annoyed. Danny flinched.

"Hey, I said I was sorry. I did find the way out eventually," Danny protested. Sam rolled her eyes.

"Right, after three nights and when I turned the map the right way around," Sam mumbled. Aang bit his lip and using his air-bending, climbed up the nearest tree. He scanned the canopy before seeing a small pillar of smoke.

"Hey! I think I can see our campfire!" Aang shouted down to the other two.

Tucker and Toph came to a stop, heaving for air. Tucker collapsed on the ground.

"I have… never run… so fast… in my life!" Tucker gasped. Toph nodded.

"Me neither. But… I can't feel anyone nearby. No soldiers or our friends," Toph informed him. Tucker instantly sat up.

"What?!" he yelped. Toph shrugged.

"I can't feel anyone close to us. And with so many trees, I can't feel vibrations that are far away," Toph explained. Tucker groaned.

"That's not good. What if we can't find them? What if those fire-benders find Aang or Danny and catch them before we do? What if-" Tucker began to panic. Toph slammed her foot down on the ground and a pillar of stone hit him in the back of his head and pushed him off balance.

"Stop it! We'll find them. We just need to start looking. You know Danny. Where would he work to?" Toph replied loudly. Tucker rubbed his head and bit his lip in thought.

"Usually he goes back to camp," Tucker answered. Toph nodded.

"So all we have to do is go back to camp," Toph announced. Tucker smiled and climbed back to his feet.

"You're right. No need to panic. Lead the way," Tucker agreed. Toph smirked before starting to walk in a direction, hopefully towards the camp.

Katara and Sokka came to a stop, leaning against trees and gasping for their breath.

"Did you see which way Aang and the others ran off?" Katara asked. Sokka shook his head.

"No, I was too busy running for my life," Sokka answered.

"Great! I hope Sam's alright," Katara retorted softly. Sokka shrugged.

"I'm sure they're all fine. Now give me a leg up," Sokka replied. Katara scowled at her brother.

"Why do you need a leg up?" Katara inquired. Sokka rubbed his hands together.

"Because I need to climb a tree and get my bearings," Sokka explained and motioned impatiently for his sister to help him.

"Uh huh. And how is that going to help?" Katara questioned as she opened her water bag and water-bended an icy pedestal for him. Sokka smiled and clambered onto the slippery surface.

"Because, if we know where we are, then maybe we can figure out where the others are," Sokka informed her. Katara smiled in understanding.

"Sokka! That's a brilliant idea!" she complimented. Sokka grinned.

"Well, I have my moments," Sokka mumbled modestly.

Sokka then jumped up to the lowest branch and ungracefully scrambled up on to it and then haphazardly climbed the tree. Once he reached the top he turned in a slow circle.

"Well?! What do you see?" Katara shouted up to him.

"Trees!" Sokka answered. Katara rolled her eyes.

"You don't say? Trees? In a forest?" Katara retorted sarcastically. Sokka frowned.

"Hey, sarcasm is my thing!" Sokka complained.

"Just get your bearings!" Katara snapped. Sokka shrugged to himself and returned to looking around him.

"Oh, wait! I see… yeah I can see the smoke from our campfire! And there's the river! Wow, we ran a long way!" Sokka yelled. Katara waited.

"So? Can you see anything else?!" Katara prompted. Sokka shook his head.

"No! No sign of the others! But I have a feeling that Danny will go back to the camp and Sam and Tucker will know that. We should make our way to the campfire!" Sokka decided. Katara nodded.

"I guess that's a good idea. Danny did suggest that we go back to our camp if we had to move while he and Aang were in the spirit world!" Katara agreed.

Sokka then clambered back down the tree trunk before missing his step and slipping and crashing down on the forest floor.

"Ow! I think I hit my head," Sokka groaned. Katara giggled.

"Well, then you should be fine. You have the hardest head I know," Katara commented. Sokka frowned at her. Katara used her water-bending to return the ice to water and put it back into her water bag.

"You alright?" Katara asked and held out her hand to help her brother to his feet. Sokka smiled and took her hand.

"Yeah. I'm a warrior! No tree is going to defeat me!" Sokka bragged, striking a pose. Katara rolled her eyes.

"So, which way was the campfire?" Katara inquired. Sokka frowned and turned in a slow circle.

"You don't remember do you?" Katara guessed. Sokka glared at her.

"Of course I do! It's this way," Sokka snapped and began to walk off through the trees.

"I really hope this isn't going to be like that time we met Jet," Katara muttered as she followed Sokka, recalling that Sokka's "instincts" led Katara, Aang and Sokka right into a Fire nation camp before Jet swooped into the rescue.

 **Not much to say really.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **The poll is finished. I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to post a vote. The winner will be announced on my website soon.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

Danny, Sam and Aang walked through the forest, Aang occasionally jumping up a tree to make sure they were heading the right way. After about thirty minutes of walking, Sam broke the silence.

"How did you know those soldiers were attacking me?" Sam wondered aloud. Danny smiled at her.

"Toph. She must have felt the fight or something because she knew. She led us to you," Danny answered. Sam nodded.

"How did they find you anyway?" Aang inquired. Sam bit her lip.

"Well, I was still angry. I might have been a little vocal about my thoughts while cleaning the dishes. Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by fire-benders. Luckily, I was able to make a wall of stone to protect myself before I got burned by their attacks," Sam answered softly.

"I don't get why you were so angry though. Danny didn't go alone when he went to get firewood," Aang pointed out. Sam nodded.

"I know, but Tucker isn't much of a body guard. Don't get me wrong, he's great and a good friend and everything but not much of a fighter. And I guess I panicked when I saw that Danny wasn't in camp," Sam replied quietly. Danny glanced at her before clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Sam, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. Honest. But I can't wait around at camp all the time. And you don't have to worry about me all the time," Danny apologised. Sam smiled at Danny and nodded.

"I know. But sometimes I feel like you don't care about yourself. You take stupid risks and throw yourself into dangerous situations. I mean, I get that you made sure that a lot of people saw you during the war to protect Aang, but I still don't get why you always insisted on waiting until the last minute to move on. I feel like you don't care if you get killed," Sam whispered sadly. Danny looked away, avoiding Sam's eye.

"Hey! Isn't that our camp?" Danny announced a few minutes later. Aang and Sam turned to where Danny was pointing and nodded.

"Yeah, wow. That wasn't so hard," Sam remarked. Aang grinned and ran forward.

"I wonder if we got here first," Aang called over his shoulder as he ran into the clearing. Then Danny frowned. The fire couldn't have been that strong after almost an hour without any fresh fuel. And yet, it was throwing out smoke above the treetops. Then Danny's eyes widened in realisation. It was a trap! The soldiers found their camp and kept the fire going to lure them all there.

Danny darted forwards and pushed Aang to the ground and rushed in front of Sam as the first volley of arrows were loosed. Danny fell to the ground, arrows imbedded in his arms and torso. One had punctured his heart and three had pierced his lungs.

"Danny!" Sam screamed. Aang scrambled to his feet and saw Danny bleeding on the ground and Sam bent over him, completely at a loss as to how to help him. Aang scowled angrily at the soldiers who ran out of their hiding places to charge at them.

Aang's fury blossomed into power and his tattoos began to glow as he entered the avatar state. Within minutes the forty soldiers that had ambushed them lay defeated around him, most severely injured. Aang closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles as his tattoos faded and he returned to his usual self. He ran to Danny's side.

"Danny! Please! Hold on! Hold on for me! Katara!" Sam begged and screamed. Aang knelt down on Danny's opposite side.

"Aang… did you… stop them?" Danny wheezed, hardly able to breathe. Aang nodded.

"Yeah," Aang answered, voice catching in his throat. Danny gave Aang a half-smile as he gasped for air, coughing up flecks of blood between breaths.

"Aang! Sam! What happened?" Katara shouted as she ran into the clearing, already opening her water bag. Sokka ran after her and gasped at Danny.

"Katara! You have to heal Danny! You have to save him!" Sam pleaded. Katara fell down to her knees beside the injured teen, her hands already coated in water. Danny shook his head and weakly stopped Katara.

"It's alright. It's alright," Danny muttered before he closed his eyes.

"You… can't save… me anyway," he whispered as his face went slack and his gasping for air stopped.

Everyone froze for a second in shock.

"Danny! No! You can't just… just give up! Come back! Come back!" Sam shouted frantically, tears building in her eyes. Aang glanced at Katara. She also had tears in her eyes.

"Guys, what's with all the shouting?" Tucker called as he and Toph ran into the clearing. Sam turned to him.

"Danny… Danny got shot. He's unconscious. Yeah! He's just gone into the spirit world! Katara, heal him. He'll come back. I know he will!" Sam explained. Katara glanced at Aang before hovering her hands over his body. The water did nothing.

"Why isn't it working?" Sam demanded. Katara bit her lip and swallowed down her sadness.

"Because, I can't heal the dead," Katara answered. Sam shook her head furiously.

"He's just in the spirit world. He'll be fine!" Sam insisted. Aang got up as Tucker joined Sam, trying to comfort her.

"Is he alive?" Aang whispered to Toph. Toph shook her head.

"He's not breathing and there's no heartbeat. He's gone," Toph answered quietly. Aang nodded slowly and watched as Tucker slowly brought Sam away from Danny's body and whispered reassuring things in her ear, crying silently. Sam shouted and screamed that Danny was alive, that he'd come back in a few hours and laugh about the misunderstanding. But everyone knew that there wasn't a misunderstanding. Danny was dead.

 **Nothing really to say…**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14

A couple of hours later, Aang sat watching Sam as she stared into the new camp fire. They'd moved their camp yet again. The soldiers had been tied up and taken to the village to be arrested by the Earth Kingdom military at their earliest convenience. Katara was stirring a pot of calming tea using her bending. Sokka had lain Danny's body down in a stone tent Toph made. Toph, Sokka and Tucker busied themselves with mundane chores as they set up their new camp, fed Appa and Momo who had been tied up by the soldiers, gathered firewood and so on. The truth that they were never going to talk with Danny again hadn't sunk in yet, especially not for Sam. Sam still insisted that Danny wasn't dead. If they looked, his eyes would be green showing that he was just in the spirit world for some reason. But Sam couldn't bring herself to prove it. Because they all knew that his eyes would be blue.

Aang sighed loudly and shook his head. He had so many questions. Why hadn't Roku ever told him about Danny? If they'd known about him sooner, then they might have been able to help each other more. Aang and Danny could have taught each other about the spirit world. Danny mightn't have died! Aang set his jaw and nodded. He had to speak with Roku. Their latest camp was relatively close to the spirit's shrine. He'd go to it and meditate. He'd enter the spirit world and get some answers. Maybe he could change this. Danny was a special case. He got hit by lightning before and survived, maybe he could come back like Sam kept saying he would.

Aang got to his feet and walked out of the clearing, ignoring Katara's confused gaze.

"Aang? Where are you going?" Sokka asked, returning to their camp with a large bundle of sticks.

"I'm going into the spirit world to talk to Roku. I have questions and I'm going to get answers," Aang answered stiffly. Sokka nodded.

"I'll bring these into camp. You go ahead and I'll catch up," Sokka replied. Aang smiled gratefully. He continued to the shrine and sat down beside the stone statue, hardened lumps of wax was all that remained of the candles he and Danny had lit. Aang swallowed down a pang of sadness. He closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath. His mind relaxed and his tattoos began to glow as he entered the spirit world.

Aang opened his eyes and got to his feet. He was in the middle of a forest clearing. He filled his lungs.

"Roku! Roku, I need to talk to you! Roku!" Aang shouted as loudly as he could.

"Aang, what's wrong?" A calm aged voice asked. Aang turned to see an elderly man in red robes standing at the edge of the clearing.

"Why didn't you tell me about Danny?" Aang asked avatar Roku, his predecessor. Roku nodded.

"I see. I didn't tell you because you had enough to worry about with the war and later with the spirit problem," Roku answered. Aang shook his head.

"If I'd known about him, we could have worked together," Aang suggested. Roku shook his head and strolled closer to Aang.

"No Aang. Defeating Fire Lord Ozai was your destiny. Quelling the spirits and their rage in the Earth kingdom was Danny's," Roku replied.

Aang shook his head.

"You should have told me. Because I didn't know Danny was all alone facing those spirits and now…" Aang whispered. Roku smiled sadly.

"I see. You're not upset that I didn't tell you about Danny. You're upset that you couldn't save him," Roku realised. Aang looked up at the tall elderly man.

"Aang, sometimes people can't be saved. Sometimes they outlive their destinies," Roku began.

"No! Danny didn't choose what he became. The spirits did. Now they owe him. They brought him back once! Can't they do it again?" Aang shouted angrily, hurt clear in his eyes. Roku pursed his lips and considered the boy in front of him.

"Roku, it's alright. I'll take it from here," A younger male voice called from behind Aang.

Aang twisted around and saw Danny's spirit form, white hair, green eyes, dark clothes. He smiled.

"Danny! You're alive! Sam was right," Aang exclaimed happily.

"You're sure?" Roku asked. Danny smiled grimly and nodded.

"Aang doesn't want answers from you. He wants them from me," Danny answered, not looking at the present avatar. Roku gave him a curt nod before walking away through the forest surrounding them.

"Hey, Aang," Danny greeted the avatar. Aang smiled giddily, relieved that his new friend wasn't dead after all.

"So, why did you come here? Was it a reflex or something?" Aang questioned. Danny shook his head.

"I'm sorry Aang, but I am dead. I'm not coming back," Danny informed him. Aang's face fell.

"But you're here," Aang pointed out.

"So's Roku, and he died," Danny retorted. Aang sank down to the ground. Danny sat beside him.

"It's alright though Aang. I'm fine with being dead," Danny reassured him. Aang turned to Danny.

"You are? But wouldn't you rather be alive?" Aang asked. Danny smiled.

"I've been living on borrowed time Aang. I should have died years ago when I got hit by lightning. Sure, I've loved being able to live and grow up and everything but… since my village got burned down. I can't help but feel that I should have died with them. I guess that Sam was right. I didn't care if I got killed. Because I didn't feel that I deserved to live," Danny explained. Aang stared at Danny in disbelief.

"Can I ask a favour Aang?" Danny asked after a brief silence. Aang started and nodded.

"Of course Danny," Aang answered quickly. Danny smiled and looked down at his softly glowing hands.

"Can you keep an eye out for Sam and Tucker? They have no one else. I wish I could but I'm kind of stuck here now," Danny requested. Aang nodded.

"Sure thing. We wouldn't want to leave them behind anyway," Aang replied. Danny smiled and nodded.

"But I guess we should talk about that spirit problem that village has. Your deadline is tonight at sundown," Danny reminded the avatar. Aang's eyes widened. With all that had happened, they'd completely forgotten that the spirit would return and destroy the village if they didn't fix her fire.

"I had an idea. Those candles we lit helped her fire. If you could convince the village to have a celebration or a festival every year on this day which ended with a bonfire at sundown. Then the spirit would never get so angry again and attack them. Maybe suggest making it a festival dedicated to love or passion and make it a tradition," Danny recommended. Aang nodded slowly.

"That will work?" Aang replied. Danny nodded.

"It should do. And since my death anniversary will be on this day, I might be able to ensure it happens," Danny answered. Aang flinched. Danny frowned apologetically.

"Sorry. I know that this is hard for you guys. But I don't want any of you to stop living, alright. None of you are to blame for what happened. I knew it was a trap," Danny apologised. Aang looked at Danny.

"If you knew, then why didn't you drop to the ground as well, or shout a warning," Aang inquired. Danny smiled.

"I didn't have time. I had to protect you and Sam. I'm unimportant Aang. You're a sign of hope and peace for the world. I'm an imposter. Besides, I can still help you, just from this side. I'll travel through the spirit world and calm down angry spirits. And if you ever need help, feel free to ask me," Danny answered. Aang nodded sadly.

"So, this is goodbye?" Aang whispered. Danny nodded.

"Yeah, I guess it is. At least for now. Aang, please help Sam and Tucker to move on from me," Danny requested. Aang nodded.

"I'll try but I don't know them well," Aang muttered. Danny smirked.

"That's fine. Knowing that you'll try is enough for me. I'll see you around Aang. You need to get back and organise that bonfire. I'll tell the spirit the plan so she can take the fire for herself since it won't be at her shrine," Danny concluded and got to his feet. Aang watched Danny walk out of the clearing before he closed his eyes and began to meditate again.

 **Yes. I killed Danny. But his spirit continues on.**

 **Fun fact, this story was written around the same time as I wrote The Spirit of Fear. Both were inspired by a writing magazine article about killing characters.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far.**

 **Not much left of the story now.**

 **Advert for the next fanfic is finally up! It's on my facebook page but there's a link to it on my website. Check it out!**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	15. Chapter 15

Aang slowly opened his eyes and sighed sadly. He looked up and saw Sokka polishing his boomerang.

"Hey Aang, welcome back to the world of the living. Did you get your answers?" Sokka remarked, putting away his boomerang. Aang nodded.

"Yeah. I did. But I need to go to the village. That spirit needs to be appeased or she'll destroy the village after sundown," Aang informed the non-bender. Sokka's eyes widened.

"I completely forgot about that!" he exclaimed and jumped to his feet. He looked up to the sky.

"Sundown isn't for two maybe three hours. Do you know what you're going to do? Danny… well, he never got to tell us his idea," Sokka announced worriedly, faltering at mentioning Danny. Aang nodded.

"Yeah, I know exactly what I'm going to do. We need to start collecting firewood. As much as possible. Sokka, get everyone involved and I'll go to the village and tell them all the plan," Aang decided.

Sokka nodded and ran off to their camp and Aang began to walk to the village. After twenty minutes of walking, Aang arrived to the village. The villagers had refused to evacuate. This was their home and they weren't going to abandon it. Aang ran over to a group of important looking men, chatting beside a shop front. He explained what they needed to do and the word was spread.

Within the hour a large bonfire was constructed in the centre of the village. The sun was starting to set and everyone was gathered around the impressive mound of sticks and logs. Aang cleared his throat.

"After consulting with the spirits, I have come up with a solution for your spirit problem. The spirit that attacked is the spirit of passion. She was upset that there wasn't enough passion in this village to keep her and her spiritual fire going. So, starting today, I decree that every year, on this day, this village will light a bonfire in her honour. And so without any further ado, let the first bonfire begin!" Aang explained in a loud, confident voice. He then fire-bended a spout of hot, powerful fire from a torch one of his friends held for light. The wood caught fire and everyone watched the bonfire light up the dark night sky.

After ten minutes watching the blinding flames engulfing the stack of wood, people began to talk and children began to play. Aang and his friends split up and explored the village. Aang spotted Sam sitting sadly alone in a dark corner. He smiled sadly at her and walked over to her.

"Hey Sam. Are you okay?" Aang asked gently. Sam looked up and hastily wiped away the tears on her face. She sniffled and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine," she answered in a falsely bright voice. Aang sat down beside her.

"It's alright if you're not, you know. I just want to help," Aang whispered. Sam sniffled again and turned to the bonfire.

"It's just… Danny's usually back by now. I guess I'm starting to think that… that maybe he's not coming back," Sam muttered, tears welling up in her eyes again. Aang bit his lip. Should he tell her that he'd spoken with Danny in the spirit world? Aang opened his mouth to tell her but she buried her face in her knees and began to sob softly. Aang put a comforting hand on her shoulder and shook his head. It wasn't fair to Sam to tell her that Danny was out there in a sense but she'd never get to talk to him since she couldn't enter the spirit world.

"It's alright Sam," Aang muttered and pulled her into a hug.

"Let it out. I'm right here for you. We all are," Aang whispered. Sam wept into his shoulder.

"I never got to tell him that Tuck was right," Sam mumbled quietly. Aang knew that he shouldn't have heard that but he held the grieving girl nonetheless. He rubbed her back in a soothing manner and breathed words of comfort into her ear. He was going to keep his word to Danny. He'd help Sam and Tucker through this.

 **One more chapter to go. More an epilogue really.**

 **Let me know what you guys thought of the story so far.**

 **Until the next chapter.**


	16. Chapter 16

One year later and Aang and Katara were back in that village. Sokka was with Suki and Toph had set up her own earth-bending and metal-bending school. The spirits had stopped attacking the living and Aang and Katara were travelling to make sure that all the world was safe and peaceful. After all that was the avatar's job and since Katara was his girlfriend, she'd stay by his side and help. The village was buzzing with excitement as the second festival of passion was under way. There were stalls of food and toys for sale. Games had been set up for people to play. Children were running happily through the streets. Aang and Katara walked through the village, smiling and holding hands. This was the first date they'd had in a long time.

The sun began to set and everyone gathered around a large mound of sticks in the centre of the village. Aang was given the honour to light the bonfire and everyone cheered and celebrated. Then the crowds began to disperse to return to the games or to buy sweet treats. Aang scanned the crowd, happy to see everyone enjoying themselves. But then his eyes widened in surprise. Standing across from him, stood a familiar figure with white hair, green eyes and dark clothes.

"Katara, I'm going to go check on Appa and Momo. I'll meet you by that stand with the fried fruit snacks," Aang lied. He'd hadn't told anyone that Danny's spirit had gone to the spirit world after he died and he didn't want to open those old wounds. Danny's death had been hard on everyone. Katara frowned but nodded.

"Alright Aang. I'm sure they're fine, but I'll see you in a few minutes," Katara agreed and kissed his cheek.

Aang smiled at his girlfriend before he walked around the fire to Danny.

"Hey Aang. How's things?" Danny greeted with a smile. Aang returned the smile uneasily.

"Great job with the fire. It's impressive," Danny complimented and nodded to the roaring bonfire. Aang nodded.

"Why are you here?" Aang whispered uncertainly. Danny smirked.

"Well, since it's the anniversary of my death, I can visit the living world. But only until midnight. Thought I'd come back and check out the festival of passion. Looks good," Danny remarked. Aang bit his lip and nodded. Danny turned to the avatar and smiled gently.

"Aang, if my presence is troubling you, I can go. I can only stick around for another few hours anyway," Danny offered. Aang shook his head.

"No! Don't do that. I just… to be honest I don't know what to say to you," Aang admitted quickly. Danny nodded.

"How's Sam and Tucker?" Danny asked. Aang blinked and smiled.

"They're okay. We managed to get Tucker into the best school in Ba Sing Se with a written recommendation from the Earth king. He's studying mechanics," Aang informed the spirit. Danny smirked.

"Tucker always loved technology, even when we were kids. Couldn't read or write since he hasn't got very good eyesight but after we went through a village and an inventor saw Tuck's problem. He gave Tucker these things he called glasses, you know those things he wears all the time. After that, turns out he has really good hand-eye coordination. I meant it when I told him he's the best archer I know. Just panics," Danny replied with a fond smile. Aang nodded, having already heard the story from Tucker but didn't want to mention it to Danny.

"Sam's Toph's best student. Toph opened a school for earth-benders to learn to be earth-bending masters and to metal-bend. Last I heard, Sam managed to bend a metal bracelet," Aang resumed. Danny smiled.

"Glad to hear it. Sam's always been very proud to be an earth-bender. I knew that with Toph's guidance she become one of the best," Danny remarked. Aang smiled and nodded.

"How did she take my passing?" Danny asked. Aang frowned sadly.

"Not well. It took her hours to accept that you weren't coming back. I didn't tell her that your spirit was in the spirit world. Didn't think it would be fair. She stopped speaking to us for a few days until Toph snapped and shouted at her. After that, Sam dove into her earth-bending. Tucker took it better. But he was still upset," Aang answered. Danny nodded slowly.

"How's things in the spirit world, if you don't mind me asking?" Aang ventured after a long thoughtful silence. Danny smirked.

"Fine. I've been travelling a lot. Found out I can still bend despite being dead. Gotten a lot better. Turns out I can make ice, really helps when trying to get over a pool of water that's really a portal to the other side of the spirit world. Actually been chasing a spirit for about… a month I think. Really slippery one. But hopefully I'll catch him before he makes any trouble," Danny answered. Aang glanced at Danny and frowned.

"A spirit? Should I be worried?" Aang inquired. Danny shrugged.

"Probably not. Nothing I can't handle. But that's what I've been doing," Danny replied. Aang nodded.

"What about you? How have the spirits been for you since our last meeting?" Danny questioned. Aang smiled.

"A lot easier to handle to be honest. They listen to me and I know what to say easier now. Thanks for helping me. I don't think I said it before," Aang retorted. Danny smiled.

"Well, I'll let you go Aang. I'd say Katara will want her boyfriend back. Thanks for looking after Sam and Tucker for me," Danny concluded and turned to leave.

"Wait, you don't have to go," Aang called to the spirit. Danny turned to Aang and smirked.

"Kind of do actually. I should really get back to hunting down that troublesome spirit. I'll see you around. You ever need a false avatar's spirit, don't hesitate to ask Aang," Danny replied and gave a small wave before fading away. Aang blinked and smiled sadly. He didn't get to tell Danny that Sam had liked him more than a friend, but then again it wasn't his place. Danny was dead and that would just make the spirit feel guilty. Aang turned away from the last place he'd seen his deceased friend and joined Katara.

"How's Appa and Momo?" Katara greeted. Aang frowned in confusion before recalling his lie.

"Oh, they're fine. Come on, I saw this game I really wanted to try," Aang answered quickly and dragged his girlfriend through the crowds to a stall, glancing once at the bonfire. The bonfire that Aang secretly dedicated to the bravest person he once knew.

 **So, that is that.**

 **There is a sequel that follows on from this epilogue. Any guesses who that troublesome spirit is? The sequel brings in altered Danny Phantom ghosts. (Hint!)**

 **Anyway, thanks to everyone that read this story and I hope you enjoyed it as much I did writing it.**

 **And thank you to everyone who reviewed this fanfic. It means so much to me to hear your thoughts. Check out my website for some of my favourites.**

 **Thanks to everyone who contributed in the poll also, the winner's first chapter will be posted soon, so keep an eye out. There's an advert for the fanfic on my facebook page, link on my website.**

 **Until the next fanfic.**


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